KATSUMASA CHIYO CLINCHES SECOND F3 VICTORY OF THE SEASON

Rounds 3, 4 and 5 of the Achievement Japanese Formula 3 Championship (F3) and Rounds 5, 6 and 7 of Formula Challenge Japan (FCJ) were held at Fuji Speedway. In F3, Katsumasa Chiyo in the #23 car won Round 4, his second victory of the season.

Achievement Japanese F3 Championship
Saturday, June 11th saw heavy rain in the morning, during which official qualifying was held, followed by the Round 3 race in the afternoon. In the first of the qualifying sessions, Chiyo sat 2nd, a scant 0.007 seconds from the top time. However in the second qualifier, used to determine the grid for Round 4, he made an excellent recovery on the last lap to snatch pole position. He finished qualifying 3rd overall, even splitting the Championship class entries. In the race, despite wet patches in some areas of the track, most cars started on slicks. From 2nd on the grid, Chiyo maintained his position, though allowed the third-placed car to overtake on the main straight on lap 10. He finished the race in 3rd.

Round 4 took place on the morning of June 12th, Sunday. Chiyo started on pole and never relinquished the position, crossing the finish line first. The car in 2nd place closed the gap in the latter stages, but Chiyo's early gains meant it was never a threat. It was his 2nd victory of the season.

The starting order for Round 5 was decided by the order of fastest laps set during Round 3, and Chiyo started the race from 4th on the grid. He lost a position immediately after the lights went out, but soon got it back. On lap 2 he passed another car, getting to within sight of the podium. He took the chequered flag in that position, earning his fourth podium in a row (a run that began at the previous round at Suzuka), cementing 2nd place in the championship.

Meanwhile, Daiki Sasaki marked the top time on Friday, June 10th, signaling a promise for the weekend, but lost his rhythm in qualifying due to the rain, ending both sessions in 6th. In the races, he moved up to fifth in Round 3 and kept 6th in Round 4, bringing home valuable championship points. He started Round 5 from 5th place and made an excellent getaway, even passing Chiyo at one point. He was however, involved in some of the chaos at the start and dropped a few positions. He ended the first lap in 6th place, but later made up one place to finish fifth.

Katsumasa Chiyo (3rd in Rd.3, winner of Rd.4, 3rd in Rd.5).
"I'm happy to be on the podium for the third time in a row at Fuji, and the fourth consecutive time if you count Suzuka. I wasn't able to up my pace in the latter stages of each of the three races, and with the gap from behind closing I was in a difficult position. However, I had built up enough distance in the early stages so it wasn't a problem. My main task from here on is to improve my pace in the later part of the races, and I'm hoping to solve this issue with the team before the next round at Fuji."

Formula Challenge Japan
For an event with three races, qualifying was held only once and determined the grid for Round 5, the first of the weekend's trio of contests. The starting order for rounds 6 and 7 were decided by the lap times of each of the previous races. In official qualifying, which was held in heavy rain, Mitsunori Takaboshi scored the best position among the NDDP-backed drivers with 5th place. Tsubasa Kondo was 7th and David Zhu, who had set the fastest time of the session in an exclusive run the previous day, was 15th.

Round 5 kicked off at midday on Saturday, June 11th. The rain that had fallen continuously throughout qualifying had finally ceased though some wet patches remained, making for wet race conditions at the start. Tsubasa Kondo started 7th but lost a few positions on the opening lap. He recovered however, passing cars on laps 2, 4, and 5, moving into 4th position by lap 6. He then closed in on the car in 3rd place, trailing by a mere 0.6 seconds, though was unable to find a way past. He finished agonizingly close in 4th place.

Round 6 was held in the evening of the same day, and Kondo started 6th. He had a close battle with two cars in front of him, passing both at once on lap 14. He finished in 4th place. In Round 7, held the following day, he made a fantastic start to rocket up from 7th to 4th. He then closed the gap to 3rd to just 0.3 - 0.5 seconds, where he remained stuck for a time. On the final lap he tried to overtake at Dunlop Corner, but didn't have enough speed and finished 4th for the third time in a row.

Takaboshi was running 3rd and within sight of the podium in Round 5, however an overrun after a close battle for the first corner meant he finished 6th. He started Round 6 from 4th, but stalled the engine at the start and could only manage a 14th-place finish. In Round 7, he started from 6th and was following Kondo, showing speeds equivalent to the top of the field as he made up positions. He reached Kondo on the final lap and commenced battle for 3rd place, attacking until the final corner but just missing out, reaching the chequered flag in fifth place.

David Zhu moved up three positions in Round 5 to finish that race in 12th. He crossed the line in Round 6 in the same position, but his best lap was 5th-fastest, allowing him to start the last race of the weekend top among the NDDP drivers with fifth on the starting grid. He finished the race in 9th place.

Tsubasa Kondo (4th in Rounds 5, 6 and 7)
"I took 4th place for the third time in a row. I had just missed the podium twice, so in the last race (Round 7), I thought, 'I don't want to be 4th any more!' and tried to attack on the final lap, but it didn't work. Therefore I had to concentrate on protecting my position from Takaboshi in the final corner. I think I would have been be on the podium had I tried to attack earlier, so it was really a shame to finish the race in that position."